I was so intrigued that I have asked him to come back and show all of us "oldies" in SeniorNet how it all applies to modern learning. I should have photographed his efforts, which were very impressive.
We are heading towards Brisbane and Oakey, to celebrate my sister Barbara's eightieth birthday in early December. There will be quite a gathering of relations from around the Pacific - including my younger sister and husband from USA, brother from Fiji, and my younger brother who is a dairy farmer near Leeston, in Canterbury.
He recently made the pages of The Press in Christchurch with his huge Cow House which accommodates 1000 cows over the Winter months. They get their food brought to them, have comfortable "mattresses" to sleep on, and all the effluent is automatically cleaned away into huge vats for spreading on the pastures. They are so comfortable that they have to be chased outside when the warmer weather comes! The benefits claimed are that the cows produce more milk, they make better use of the feedstocks, and the pastures do not get pugged up over Winter. Artificial fertilisers are not required as the effluent sprayed on provides all the nutrients needed for healthy pasture. None have been applied since March when the process began. It is hoped that cow numbers will actually fall, and milk production maintained at a 700 cow level, reducing the intensity of the operation, and lowering the impact on the water tables etc. The capital cost is the only drawback. Of course similar set-ups operate in Europe already.
Back home our little garden in blooming with bright flowers and healthy looking veges. two rows of carrots, potatoes flowering encouragingly, a row of parsnips well away, and beans climbing the trellises. Our blueberries look like producing a bumper crop, and the new strawberry plants are swelling well. Some of our lettuce plants brought to us by friend Walter, are descended from seed brought from Europe in 1980's.
A feature of our backyard this year has been the bird table. We have been dishing out a split apple a day, a bowl of wild bird seed, and another bowl of sugar water, specially for the tui and wax eyes. Visitors have included regulars like sparrows, but plenty of greenfinches, blackbirds, and starlings, with the odd chaffinch, and gold finch to brighten up the morning. The blackbirds seem to feed our apple to their youngsters and it gives us a lot of laughs to watch them gradually trying to make them independent over a couple of weeks. No room for cats! I have to chase them off.
We had a little holiday on Norfolk Island this year. Only 90 minutes flight from Auckland, so not trouble getting there. We had a little motel out in the countryside and had the use of a hire car for our stay. We enjoyed the historical aspects, and the subtropical climate, small numbers of people and peace. I recommend it to anyone as a nice quiet place to spend a week.
And of course we add little Addison Ross to our family tree. Our first great-grand child. Jac and Damien are excellent parents.
